InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Proposal ❯ Chapter 1

aThe Proposal

By: InitialA

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha!

Author's Note: …crack. Sometimes it gets the better of us. We know Kagome went back to the past at the end, and we know she and InuYasha got married. But we don't know how much time passed between those two facts. Please don't expect anything out of this, but enjoy it all the same. I give you… crack.

 

He was alone. This wasn't uncommon, and with his life lately, it wasn't unwelcome. And really, he wasn't completely alone, but the twins and their newborn brother were sound asleep. Not that he minded that either, with the crying and the using him as a jungle gym and the constant attention they needed.

He was alone and thinking. Again, this wasn't surprising, his only company all being under the age of four, asleep, and unaccomplished conversationalists. It was what he was thinking about that bothered him.

He was alone, thinking, and it was the new moon. That was where the main problem lay. If it had been any other combination, hell, even just getting rid of any one of those factors, it would be fine: thinking while alone, alone on the new moon, or thinking on the new moon. But no. Sango and Miroku were gone, the house was plastered in ofuda, and the wench was off having a bath.

And that's where all his problems started: the wench.

Three agonizing years of waiting for—wait, that wasn't right. Three annoyingly long and slightly lonely years spent occasionally checking the well to see if it was open had passed since he'd seen her. The kitsune was off training to have more annoying tricks up his sleeve, and the monk and the slayer got married and almost immediately started popping out kids, yada yada yada. Everyone got their happy endings, and he was better off than before by having somewhere to call home. Fine, great, whatever; he had houseroom with the old hag and meals were offered regularly at Miroku and Sango's home. Food and a roof over his head when it rained, that's all he needed.

Or so he told himself.

Then she came back. She appeared at the bottom of the well not two weeks ago, and the numb acceptance started to wear off, leaving him emotionally vulnerable and twitchy around her. Yes, twitchy. If it wasn't an ear, it was a muscle spasm, or a smirk, or the tingling in his legs that made him want to run and run and not look back at the woman who made him feel like this. And then there was the annoying way the young men of the village noticed her. The ones who spent their boyhoods chasing each other with sticks, calling for Naraku to submit to the mighty Tessaiga, were now falling over themselves at the chance to proposition the miko connected to the hero they'd played at in their youth. His miko. His miko, when he was their old hero. It annoyed him, and every time he told her to give them what-for, she just smiled and asked him to hold a basket for her, or help with the laundry!

The nerve of the wench, driving him as crazy as she did before she left. It was almost as if she hadn't left, how easily they fell back into it. Stupid wench.

But she had. They were older, more secure in themselves. Her hair was longer, she'd grown another inch or two. She'd grown elsewhere, but he pointedly kept his eyes in a proper place. That hug had just been softer than the last one he'd given her, that was all. He wasn't a pervert.

The baby whimpered, and InuYasha rocked him slightly to soothe him. He wasn't sentimental either, holding the kid while he slept; he just wasn't lying under the covers of his friends' futon to make sure the kid didn't suffocate while sleeping. The gods only knew what went on in that futon, and he was sure that even his human nose would detect things he didn't want to know.

And that was another thing. The wench left him with babysitting duties, when she'd volunteered! Oh, but she wanted to get to know her adoptive nieces and nephew better! Of course she'd watch them while Sango and Miroku went to the next village to take care of a small demon problem! But then they had to play in the mud, and the twins needed a bath, and then Kagome needed a bath after their bath, and poor defenseless InuYasha was the easiest target to watch the little terrors while she did so. Alright, so it wasn't that bad: the baby was already asleep for the evening and the twins fell asleep as soon as they'd stopped moving long enough to keel over from sheer exhaustion. But still! He had more important things to do!

And that very important matter was what to do about the wench. Two weeks, and he knew Kagome was expecting something. And he had a feeling he knew what she was expecting. His human rationality was making it very difficult to be stubborn about the situation, and it wasn't as if he didn't have plenty of good excuses for why he should. For one, it would stop the brats from pestering her about settling down. InuYasha snorted. Keh! As if any of them could handle her. Wench would knock `em head over tail before they knew what they were even dealin' with.

Maybe it was best to just get it out there. Just say it, and take the blows to the ego when she said no. Not that he'd let her say no. Or that she'd want to. Would she?

Maybe he hadn't grown more secure with age.

He'd lost his nerve several times before, the very first being the moment she'd come back. He would steel himself and get it over with soon. Tonight. Right now, actually. He'd go and find her—well, maybe that wasn't the best idea. The kids would wake up and wonder where everyone went, and get lost, and then he'd be in trouble. Not to mention Kagome would be naked. Not that it mattered much. She'd just get embarrassed and scream and he wouldn't get a word in otherwise. It had nothing to do with getting distracted by her lack of clothing.

His more rational side wondered if he liked lying to himself. I've been doing it for years, why stop now?

He heard footsteps, and shoved his nerves in the furthest corner of his mind. The reed mat was pushed aside; he closed his eyes and exploded, “I want you to marry me!”

Silence. One of the twins sat up. “Doggie?” She asked sleepily.

A deep, very male chuckle came from the doorway. “InuYasha, I never knew you cared. However, I must decline. I'm happily married already. In fact, I believe you attended the ceremony.”

InuYasha flushed hotly as he opened his eyes and saw Miroku in the doorway, Sango covering a grin with her hand right behind him. Standing abruptly, he practically shoved the baby at Miroku, and stormed into the moonless night.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Stupid Miroku, stupid Sango. Stupid wench, stupid marriage, stupid! He climbed the stack of wood behind Kaede's hut and pulled himself onto the roof. He barely heard Kagome come back to their friend's hut, surprised to see them back so soon. Their voices faded after a time, and he supposed she would be concerned about him. The wench could wonder all she wanted about where he was. This was her fault, anyway.

Stupid.

 

((This will be a few chapters, I'm guessing less than five. We'll see where the plot bunnies take me though. X3 Please review!))